Davao City Hall employees dismissed for qualified theft

DAVAO CITY — Seven employees working for the Ancillary Service Unit (ASU) at City Hall have been fired from their jobs after they were allegedly caught stealing confiscated items from an illegal store demolished in Toril and selling them.

They were seen in a CCTV video stuffing shoes in their bags and selling these in front of the ASU office in Magsaysay Park. The names of the employees were not made public by ASU.

ASU Chief Paul Bermejo said he has been receiving complaints from vendors about their lost items after the demolition team confiscated them. “This is not the first time that we receive complaints; however, it is the first time that we have concrete evidence to verify the complaints,” he said.

Bermejo said that on July 6, his attention was called by personnel manning the CCTV about the actions of some employees. “The vendor, who is a member of Badjao tribe, also came to me after the incident. We immediately conducted an investigation and through that, we found out that the team really took the demolished items,” he said.

Asked if the ASU employees will face charges, Bermejo said: “We let them choose between voluntary resignations or we will file charges against them and eventually they will be terminated. They chose the former.”

Bermejo then reminded the employees to follow the standard procedure of the office after implementing a demolition, and avoid committing wrongdoings that can ruin their reputation at work. He said unclaimed confiscated items must be disposed of three days after the demolition by donating them to halfway houses. (Funny Pearl Gajunera)